Tag Archives: A’Lelia Bundles

Sarah Breedlove–who later would become known to the world as Madam C. J. Walker–was born on December 23, 1867, just two days before Christmas. The year had been a particularly difficult one for her parents, Owen and Minerva Anderson Breedlove, who struggled to farm … Continue reading →

Combine clues in a faded letter from November 1916 with the algorithms of Facebook and the distance across the decades evaporates. Finding descendants and relatives of people who knew my great-great-grandmother, Madam C. J. Walker, and her daughter, A’Lelia Walker, … Continue reading →

One of my earliest memories of my great-great-grandmother’s existence is seeing her monogram on the silverware we used everyday. “CJW” for “C. J. Walker,” the name Sarah Breedlove McWilliams adopted after marrying her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker. I grew … Continue reading →

On August 31, 1917, Madam C. J. Walker hosted the first national convention of her Walker “beauty culturists” at Philadelphia’s Union Baptist Church. More than 200 women from all over the United States gathered to learn about sales, marketing and … Continue reading →

After a day of champagne, lobster and laughter with friends, A’Lelia Walker–my great-grandmother and daughter of entrepreneur, Madam C. J. Walker–died in a cottage near the beach in Long Branch, New Jersey. Her funeral–with music, poetry and great oratory–was as grand … Continue reading →

Between friendship links on Facebook and research on Ancestry.com (which I’ve decided is Facebook for the dearly departed), I’ve been able to make connections and conduct a level of intimate research for my new book about my great-grandmother, A’Lelia Walker, that I … Continue reading →

July is always a month of memories for me because my grandfather, Marion Rowland Perry, Jr. was born on July 11 and my mother, A’Lelia Mae Perry Bundles, on July 22. During the summer of 1982–as I was in the … Continue reading →